Kenny Omega gives AJ Styles credit for inspiring AEW
Kenny Omega has credited AJ Styles for getting his career on the right track two decades ago, and ultimately inspiring AEW’s formation.
Speaking to CBS Sports to promote this weekend’s AEW Full Gear pay-per-view, Omega recalled a 2006 independent match against Styles, the only career singles meeting between the two, and how it set Omega up for success.
Omega and Styles went one-on-one for PCW in Winnipeg in September 2006 after Omega had requested and been granted his release from WWE’s Deep South Wrestling developmental territory, Omega said:
“I wasn’t sure if I’d continue wrestling after I left developmental… [Thought the bout with Styles would be] a good last match.
“We had no interactions ever before, but there were moments in that match that really felt like the give and take felt so symbiotic. The chemistry was naturally there. I thought, ‘Wow, this is what wrestling someone at this level feels like. I’m not embarrassing myself. Maybe I’m not exactly keeping up, but I’m not embarrassing myself. Maybe if I push myself harder, I can reach this level.'”
Omega and Styles would of course cross paths a decade later in NJPW, where Omega ultimately assumed the Styles role of Bullet Club leader with an angle where Omega and Bullet Club booted Styles from the group on his way out of NJPW and on to WWE.
Omega recalls :
“AJ, having a keen sense of what’s best for business, knew exactly how to go along with it. In a way, by his turning his back and allowing for that moment to happen, whether he knows it or not, that led to the forming of The Elite.”
“Ultimately, it kind of led to AEW. Him being involved in our lives is very pivotal for [AEW] and our careers.”
AEW Full Gear, Saturday, November 22, 8 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
- AEW World Champion Hangman Adam Page defends against Samoa Joe in a steel cage match
- AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander defends against Mercedes Mone
- AEW Tag Team Champions Brody King and Bandido defend against FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler)
- TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher defends against Mark Briscoe in a No DQ match
- Casino Gauntlet match to crown the first AEW National Champion
- $1 million trios match: Kenny Omega, Jack Perry, and Luchasaurus vs. The Young Bucks and Josh Alexander
- No Holds Barred match: Jon Moxley vs. Kyle O’Reilly
- PAC vs. Darby Allin
- Four-way tag team match: Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa vs. Megan Bayne and Marina Shafir vs. Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron vs. Julia Hart and Skye Blue
AEW Full Gear Saturday Tailgate Brawl, Saturday, November 22, 7 p.m. Eastern time on TNT and HBO Max —
- CMLL World Trios Champions El Sky Team (Mistico, Mascara Dorada & Neon) defend against Kazuchika Okada, Hechicero & Konosuke Takeshita
- $200,000 four-way: Max Caster & Anthony Bowens vs. Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson & Austin Gunn) vs. Big Bill & Bryan Keith vs. The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum)
- Big Boom AJ & QT Marshall vs. Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta
- Eddie Kingston & Hook vs. The Workhorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry)
An F4WOnline Editor since 2019, Ethan has been covering wrestling and MMA since 2011. He has hosted The Wrestling Life Podcast since 2014, and is a former Baltimore Sun TV/Tribune Media contributor. He is also a Baltimore Ravens and Baltimore Orioles fan.